Magic Get Grant Back In Lineup To Take On Magic

Horace Grant Was Looking Forward To Playing Against Against The Lakers' Magic Johnson.

March 18, 1996|By L.C. Johnson of The Sentinel Staff

INGLEWOOD, CALIF. — Horace Grant returned to the Orlando Magic lineup Sunday night just in time to meet face-to-face with the other Magic.

Grant had sat out the two previous games for the Magic with a sprained right wrist. But with Orlando facing the Los Angeles Lakers, Grant decided to give it a try.

''I went out before the game to try to shoot and do a little bit of running,'' Grant said prior to tipoff at the Great Western Forum. ''The wrist is still bothering me, but I'm just going to give it a try.''

Grant was expected to be pitted against Magic Johnson, the one-time All-Star point guard, who has bulked up to 255 pounds and now plays power forward for the Lakers.

While Grant was anticipating his defensive match up against Johnson, it was not going to be the first time that he will have faced Johnson offensively.

Prior to Johnson's retirement 4 1/2 seasons ago, he would often defend Grant when Grant was a member of the Chicago Bulls. Johnson left the game after he contracted the AIDS virus.

''I wasn't very offensive minded early in career and so they would put Magic on me defensively,'' Grant said. ''My game has changed quite a bit since them. So I'm going to have to try to make him work at the other end.''

Johnson, 36, has been bothered by Achilles' tendinitis in his right ankle as well as a strained right calf injury. But he came back Friday to have one of his best performances of the season with 20 points and 8 assists in a victory over the Milwaukee Bucks.

''Magic has such great court vision,'' Grant said. ''That's one of the things that makes him so dangerous. I'm going to have to try to guard against that and not let him get off that little short hook of his.''